


Splash

by neversaydie



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Blow Jobs, Bucky talks to an octopus called Nigel I don't fucking know, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Hand Jobs, I'm making up the internal rules of this supernatural shit as I go, M/M, Merman Bucky, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Shifters, Snark, an interpretation of current events, there's a shark called Betsy wtf can you do, thor is a weredog fsr
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2018-07-17 23:28:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 12,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7290424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neversaydie/pseuds/neversaydie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Does the water have to be cold?” Steve grumbles, watching Bucky pour what looks like table salt (is it table salt? He wouldn’t put it past him) into the freezing bathtub. He’s only ever seen him transform in the sea before, but Bucky’s day had been stressful enough that guerrilla shifting is necessary.</p><p>A salty bath will do in a pinch, apparently. A cold salty bath.</p><p>[Bucky is a merman, shifter kinda thing AU]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bathtub

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is proof that if you ask the universe for an AU often enough, it will eventually happen. 
> 
> @nerd why did you make me do this

“Does the water have to be cold?” Steve grumbles, watching Bucky pour what looks like table salt (is it table salt? He wouldn’t put it past him) into the freezing bathtub. He’s only ever seen him transform in the sea before, but Bucky’s day had been stressful enough that guerrilla shifting is necessary.

A salty bath will do in a pinch, apparently. A _cold_ salty bath.

“Don’t be a baby.” Bucky snorts, setting down the jar of salt and shucking off his boxers before getting into the water. He groans with relief as the silver-blue scales ripple out across his skin, and by the time he grins at Steve his grey eyes have their cat-like pupils fully shaped. “C’mon Rogers, man up and cuddle me.”

“I’m gonna get hypothermia.” Steve whines, ignoring the fact that he’s already pulling off his shirt because he’s whipped as fuck. “The shit I do for you.”

“I mean… I can’t suck you off in a wetsuit, so.” Bucky smirks, all pointed teeth, as his boyfriend’s pants hit the laundry basket with sudden enthusiasm. He doesn’t have to come up for air when he’s shifted, after all.


	2. Swimming Pool

“Uh…”

Clint really doesn’t know what to say.

“So, apparently I’m immune to chlorine now.” Bucky shakes the water out of his hair and rolls up the sleeve of his soaked shirt to check that, yep, his scales are out. “Huh.”

“I told you not to push him in the fucking pool.” Steve had been ready to jump to Bucky’s defence as soon as he hit the water, because he’s not out as a shifter and you never know how people are going to react, but their friends seem to be more shocked than disgusted. 

 _It’ll be fine_ , Bucky said, _I can’t shift in chlorinated water, a pool party’s no big deal._

Steve’s boyfriend is literally the dumbest merman alive. 

“Are those gills?” Sam is craning over the barbecue to get a better look, nose wrinkling when Bucky spits water through the slits in the side of his neck just to be dramatic. “That’s nasty, man.”

“You wanna stick your finger in them?” Bucky smirks when Sam gags emphatically. “C’mon, you never touched raw fish?”

“I hate you.” Sam shakes his head, because of course Barnes would manage to piss him off in _two species_ when he was annoying enough in one. “So much.”

“Can you breathe underwater?” Clint is kneeling down by the edge of the pool, prodding Bucky’s skin without so much as a by-your-leave, and turns to squint at Steve and then back to Bucky as realisation dawns. “Hey, does that mean you don’t have to breathe if you su-”

“I need more beer.” Steve cuts him off and retreats quickly into the house, because he’s going to need alcohol if he’s about to get kinkshamed. At length.

Bucky’s gleeful cackle follows him inside, so he doesn’t really mind that much.


	3. Aquarium

“Can we please go to the gift shop now?” Steve sighs, leaning forward on the bench and resting his chin on his hand wearily. Bucky’s been sitting on the floor in front of the octopus tank for the past twenty minutes, muttering in something that’s definitely not English to a very orange octopus. 

This happens every fucking time. 

“Yeah, in a minute.” Bucky waves him off vaguely, speaking with the weird accent he gets when he’s switching between English and whatever the fuck marine animals speak. “I’m just catching up on the gossip.”

“How much gossip can it get in a tank?” Steve should have known between than to walk them past anything with tentacles. Last time they were in here for two hours. 

“ _His_ name is Nigel, and plenty. _Believe_ me.” Bucky flicks his hand emphatically, and Steve is now certain he’s not moving any time soon. “Go get a cup of coffee, babe. There’s been like three major scandals in the freshwater tank and I gotta get deets.”

Steve gives up and lets his head hang down as Bucky turns back to the tank and starts murmuring in fish-lish to Nigel again. It’s going to be a long day. 


	4. Ice Tray

“Hell no” is Bucky’s flat, immediate response when Steve broaches the subject of doing anything more than blowjobs when he’s shifted. He’d brought it up more out of curiosity than anything else, but he’s surprised by Bucky’s reaction all the same. “You’re not sticking it in me while I’m shifted.”

“Why not?” He hears the words come out of his mouth and hurries to correct himself even as Bucky raises his eyebrows. “I mean, of course we don’t have to, I was just kinda curious. Just, how come it’s such a big no?”

“D’you know how many fetishists I’ve had to deal with since I hit puberty?” Bucky’s using the same flat tone, like he’s explaining something obvious or like he’s resigned. “Fin tuggers. They have websites, mailing lists, they take creepshots and share pictures if they see you in the wild. Some beach pictures of me ended up on a website one summer, I couldn’t get them taken down and the commentary… Kinda made me averse to the whole idea.”

“Oh.” Steve blinks, taken aback. He’d never even thought about that as a possibility before. “I… didn’t know that. That people… Wow.”

“Why d’you think I didn’t come out to you for so long?” Bucky rests his chin on his hand and cocks his head to the side, seeming slightly amused by the fact Steve clearly had no idea he was something to be fetishised. “Stevie, you’re so pure. I’m so happy you’re not a creep sometimes.”

“Yeah.” Steve shakes his head, lifting Bucky’s free hand to his mouth and pressing a kiss to his palm because he doesn’t know how to say _I’m sorry you have to deal with that_  without sounding pitying and making his boyfriend bristle. “Me too.”


	5. Open Water

“Jesus Christ.” Steve groans and lets his head fall back against Bucky’s shoulder, feeling the smirk against his temple rather than seeing it. The beach is deserted at this time of night, water still warm from the midsummer sun, and they’d only been in the open water for a few minutes before things inevitably got frisky. 

Unsurprisingly, Bucky _loves_ being in the water and it tends to put him in the mood. As he twists his wrist and wrings another strangled noise out of his boyfriend, Steve can’t remember why the hell they don’t live by the ocean. 

“You like that?” Bucky kisses the back of Steve’s neck where he’s pressed up against him, nipping him with just a hint of sharp, sharp teeth and sounding very pleased with himself. 

“Never realised how much-” Steve has to stop to catch his breath, only Bucky’s arm around his waist and hand on his cock keeping him afloat right now. “How much the t-texture of your skin changed.”

Bucky laughs and tightens his grip, and Steve decides they’re going to the beach every fucking weekend from now on. 


	6. Ocean

Everyone is out of the water when they get to the beach, which is extremely disappointing. 

“What’s going on?” Steve asks the nearest lifeguard, one of several who are scattered around the sand making sure people stay out of the water. Bucky’s practically pouting in his ridiculous blinged-out sunglasses, staring at the ocean longingly. 

“There’s a shark in the water. Weird for this time of year but someone got it on video about ten minutes ago.” The guy explains, clearly having done so several times already. 

“Aw, awesome!” Bucky tosses his bag down and yanks his shirt off without further ado, and Steve gets the distinct feeling he’s about to be really _weird_ in public again. “I love sharks.”

“Son, it’s really not safe to be in the water right now.” The lifeguard looks at him like he’s crazy, which doesn’t bother Bucky at all. “We’re closing the beach, so you can’t-”

“Look, I’ll level with you.” Steve’s only seen Bucky out himself a handful of times, and this is the most blunt he’s been about it. “I’m a shifter, a mer. I can go talk to it and get it to go away, then you can let people back in the water and shit.”

“Oh.” The guy takes a big step back, away from Bucky, and Steve bristles even though his boyfriend looks totally nonplussed by the casual disgust. “Uh. Okay. That’d be helpful, yeah.”

“Cool. Hold my shades, babe.” He tosses his sunglasses to Steve and walks purposefully to the edge of the water, only the set of his shoulders clueing Steve in to the fact he’s probably only just registered that he’s about to shift in front of this many people. 

His skin is blooming blue-grey by the time he’s waded in up to his waist, silvery scales on his shoulders catching the light and the attention of people on the beach, drawing stares and points that Steve somehow feels guilty about. Then he’s gone, slipped into the water out of sight. 

“Man, I never saw one of those things in real life before.” One of the other lifeguards has joined them, staring at the spot in the water where Bucky had been. “It looks just like a person, huh?”

“Watch your fucking mouth.” Steve snaps, annoyed that he can’t chew the guy out more because it would only embarrass Bucky, and stalks further down the beach. He fucking hates people sometimes. 

Bucky emerges from the water about ten minutes later, grinning from ear to ear as he shakes the water out of his hair and pushes it back from his face. Steve notices he’s kept his shorts on, when he emerges from the water, so he must be more self-conscious about shifting so publicly than he’s letting on. 

“She’s leaving, the water’s safe now.” He calls over to the lifeguards, who acknowledge him uneasily and go to confirm it so they can let people back in the ocean. He turns back to Steve with the same smile. “She was totally lost, got all thown off course in a storm somewhere. She’s a good girl, just wanted to play.”

“How do you play with a shark?” Steve asks, mirroring Bucky’s happy expression because he really loves this weirdo. 

“Belly rubs, fetch.” Bucky shrugs, skin rippling as he starts to dry off. “They’re just big puppies, really. They’re a lot nicer than people.”

Steve’s never met a shark, but he’s inclined to agree.


	7. Wet T-Shirt

The first time Bucky shifts in front of Steve, it isn’t long after he first comes out to him (after they’ve been dating for nearly five months) and it’s only because Steve asks him to. He’s been reluctant to shift in front of his boyfriend, for reasons Steve doesn’t understand, because when he comes out of the bathroom fully transformed all he can say is

“ _Wow_.”

“I know, it’s weird.” Bucky sits down next to him on the couch, holding himself stiff and unnatural like he’s not sure what to do with himself. He’s clearly uncomfortable, even with the damp t-shirt he’s wearing covering a lot of his silvery skin and stopping him drying and shifting back. He won’t look at Steve, ducking his head slightly to keep his weird eyes hidden. “I can dry off and-”

“I meant _wow_. You look awesome, Buck.” Steve leans over and kisses him on the cheek, through the curtain of hair. “You said it felt comfortable like this, right? So let’s just watch the movie and chill.”

“Okay.” Bucky glances across at him, still not sure of anything but feeling so much better after not shifting for _months_ , and forces himself to settle back on the couch. Steve starts the movie and deliberately doesn’t look at him for a minute, letting him find his level without pushing.

By halfway through the movie, Bucky has his legs sprawled over Steve’s lap and is laughing with only a little self-consciousness. Steve lays a hand on one of his feet, running his thumb under the arch and feeling how it’s flatter, longer, how the texture of his skin has changed to something scaly and smooth but dry, warm.

When he pulls Bucky’s leg up to press a kiss to his ankle, he doesn’t think anything of it until he hears Bucky’s breath hitch. 

“You don’t have to make yourself do that.” He mumbles, shakily, and so Steve just kisses a spot a little further up his leg. “Steve…”

“You’re beautiful, baby.” Steve shoots him a grin and then drops the subject, pretending he doesn’t hear Bucky’s quiet sniffle as he gets himself under control. 

He finishes watching the movie in Steve’s lap, still shifted. It’s better than he could have ever imagined. 


	8. Fishbowl

“He’s not one of us, sweetheart. He’ll never understand and you’re wasting your time.”

“Mom, please don’t talk about him like that.”

They’ve been whispering frantically in the kitchen for a good fifteen minutes now, while Steve sits awkwardly in the living room as their coffee cups go cold. Ms Barnes had been obviously sceptical about meeting her son’s boyfriend from the start, and Bucky tensely asking to speak to her privately after an hour of sniping and snide remarks aimed at Steve hasn’t improved things. 

The apartment walls aren’t very thick, and Steve can hear _everything_ they say in English. They’ve been swinging between that and the marine language he’s heard Bucky using, which he can’t decipher no matter how much he’s exposed to it. When voices are raised, Steve feels slightly grateful he can’t understand everything she’s saying about him. 

“These breathers are all the same, you know they are.” Ms Barnes hisses, trying to keep her voice down with absolutely no effect. “He’ll take pictures of you and put them on those disgusting websites, just like that-”

“He’s _not_ like that!” Bucky fires back, and Steve knows exactly what he’s doing with his face, the set of his jaw from the tone of his voice. “Steve’s been nothing but-”

“He doesn’t know our culture, he doesn’t speak our language. He’s no different from all the others who want to use you for medicine or sex or cross the street to keep away from you.”

“That’s not true. You’re not listening to me!”

“You can have your fun, honey, but soon you’re going to realise that you can’t live with these things all the time. You can’t be in their culture because they don’t _want_ you there and they’ll never accept you. You need to find yourself a shifter who-”

“Get out.” Bucky’s voice is flat, that blank tone he slips into when something is really bothering him, and Steve’s heart drops even though he can’t see him. “I’m not listening to this. Get out of our house.”

Steve holds Bucky in his lap while he cries in frustration after his mother leaves, slamming the door behind her hard enough to make the picture frames on the wall rattle. And when the salty tears on his skin make him shift, Steve holds him through that too. 


	9. Paddling Pool

So, here’s the thing: Steve isn’t the world’s greatest swimmer. He can swim to keep himself alive and cross a pool, sure, but he’s clumsy and graceless in the water. It’s more a doggy paddle than anything else. He can jog and jump hurdles and run with beautiful form, but the finer points of good swimming escape him. 

But swimming is central to relationships in mer culture, the several books he secretly buys on the subject tell him. So he practices and practices and works on his floppy form until he can at least dive to the bottom of the pool and wave at Bucky with his eyes open. Bucky smiles at him with big eyes like he hung the fucking moon when he does that, so his clumsy foray into mer culture (not _just_ to prove his boyfriend’s mother wrong. Not _entirely_ ) picks up a notch in intensity. 

The trouble is, he’s also not good at languages. At all. No matter how much he tries to emulate Bucky’s marine speech or follow the youtube videos designed to teach non-shifters how to curl their tongues in the odd shapes essential to the tonal pronunciation, it just doesn’t stick in his head. One time he manages to get Nigel the octopus to flick a tentacle at him, but Bucky gently informs him that his attempt at greeting translated to something more like ‘chum the sky’, and doesn’t _that_ become an aquarium-wide meme for the next three visits. 

So he narrows his focus. He practices and practices just a few tiny things, and the next time they’re in the ocean he tells Bucky _I love you_ with the best pronunciation he can. Bucky straight up _squeals_ and half-drowns him when he flings himself into his boyfriend’s arms and kisses him like neither of them need air to breathe. 

The reaction is so good that Steve starts working on another phrase soon after. He’s not sure when he’ll use it, not yet, but it’s best to start early on this shit with him. And he’ll say it some time in the future, he knows that for sure.

After all, it would be shit to have to postpone saying _Will you marry me?_ because he couldn’t get the tone right. 


	10. Diving Board

Bucky’s dating history isn’t stellar, to put it mildly. 

His first date was with a lovely shifter girl his Mom set him up with, which was very pleasant but totally unromantic considering he was fourteen and not interested in girls. Then there was his first boyfriend, another mer called Brock, who turned out to be heavily into seperationist politics and thought all mers should colonise the ocean and have as little contact with humans as possible. He moved to a colony off the coast of Spain not long after they broke up, largely because Bucky _liked_ living with humans. Well, most of the time.

Then there were the fetishists, the guys Bucky met on the beach who seemed totally normal until they asked if he could shift and they could finger his gills while they fucked. The ones who needed his scales to get it up, who asked creepy questions about his anatomy and started talking about ‘fertilising his eggs’ in the middle of sex. He stopped going to the beach.

Worst of all were the guys he saw a future with, the ones he could have loved or did love, who backed away and called him a freak when he told them what he was. The club hook-up who threw him out of his apartment, shoeless, at 2 a.m. because Bucky accidentally shifted in the shower. The date who walked away without saying another word. The boyfriend who told him to get his shit and be out in five minutes or he’d beat his half-breed ass. 

And now there’s Steve. And to say Bucky’s nervous about coming out to him would, again, be understating things _massively_. He’s starting to fall for the guy, really _fall_ for him like he’s never felt before, and if he calls him a freak and walks away then Bucky doesn’t know what the hell he’s going to do. 

He puts it off for five anxious months. Then one day, out of the blue, when they’re sitting on the couch watching a crappy movie and things are _just_ how he wants them to be, he can’t hold it in anymore. 

“I need to tell you something.” He blurts out, quiet and nervous with his heart in his throat. “Please don’t hate me.”


	11. Hot Water

“So, I got a question.” Clint whips his beer cap at Steve’s back, getting the finger and smirking back at him before he returns his attention to Bucky. The party’s in full swing and they’ve been colonising the couch for the past hour. “What’s your dick like?”

“’Scuse me?” Bucky stops with a joint halfway to his mouth, looking over at Clint with an unreadable expression. 

“I mean with like, the shifter thing. I mean is it like a normal dick or does it have…” Clint makes a gesture Bucky never needs to see again in his entire life. “Ridges or something? Like a dolphin or whatever.”

“Did you just ask me what’s in my pants?” Bucky asks, after a long pause, still watching Clint with that purposefully blank face. It’s the expression and the neutral tone that filter though Clint’s drunkenness, and he sits up a little when he realises he’s done something wrong.

“Am I not supposed to ask you that?” He grabs Bucky’s shoulder worriedly, clumsy and earnest. “Fuck dude, I’m sorry if that’s like, offensive. I’ve never been friends with a shifter before.”

“S’okay man, you didn’t mean it.” Bucky finally takes a drag on his joint, patting Clint’s hand and relaxing a little now he knows his friend wasn’t being a douche on purpose. “Rule of thumb, though? Probably not a great idea to ask anyone what’s in their pants. Whatever species they are.”

“Got it.” Clint holds his fist out, finally relaxing when Bucky bumps their knuckles together. They’re good. 

They’re quiet for a few moments, at least against the background noise of the party, before Clint burps loudly and looks at his friend again. 

“So, what’s Steve’s dick like?”

“Wonderful.” Bucky rolls his eyes and passes him the joint. 


	12. Seafood

They’ve been dating for a month when Valentine’s Day rolls around. 

Steve figures he’ll go all out, because Bucky’s pretty much the most amazing guy he’s ever been with and he’d like to make sure he knows that. They’re not fancy restaurant people, not with their budget, and he feels like a home-cooked meal is more intimate besides. So he gets a recipe from Sam for some fancypants seared-whatever vegetables, cooks salmon because it seems more romantic than the chicken-and-rice variations he usually makes. 

That is, until Bucky gets one whiff of the fish when he opens the oven, and promptly bolts to the bathroom to throw up. 

“Are you okay?” Steve knocks gingerly on the door when the retching noises stop. Bucky mumbles something from inside and then the toilet flushes, and this isn’t exactly the romantic dinner he’d been picturing. 

“I, uh. I can’t eat fish.” He says, a little clearer, and Steve smacks himself on the forehead outside. He didn’t think to check if Bucky had any allergies or whatever. Shit. 

“I’ll get rid of it. There’s a new toothbrush in the medicine cabinet if you want.” He hurries to shove the fish in tupperware and opens the kitchen window to get the smell out. 

Bucky emerges a few minutes later, eyes pink but totally composed aside from that. He looks more embarrassed than anything else, as if he’s got something to be ashamed of.

“I’m _so_ sorry.” He blurts out, before Steve can say anything. “I ruined your dinner.”

“Hey, it’s not like you did it on purpose. I should’ve checked.” Steve pulls him into a hug, not sure why Bucky looks so upset about it. Maybe he’s really that embarrassed, as if Steve didn’t throw up drunk on their fourth or fifth date because he let Clint talk him into shots beforehand. “Wanna order pizza? I’ve got a coupon for free cookies.”

“You’re awesome.” Bucky squeezes him tight, and why he sounds so emotional about pizza, Steve doesn’t know. 

It’s not until Bucky comes out to him, months later, that he realises why fish was a _spectacularly_ unromantic idea. Still, can’t blame a guy for trying.


	13. Under The Sea

“You ever met a Jamaican crab?”

Clint, when stoned, only asks the most important questions. And puts on the most important movies, of course. He’s been waiting for an opportunity to watch The Little Mermaid since they found out about Bucky, because that’s the logical response to finding out your best friend is a different species, clearly. 

“Nah.” Bucky says, when he’s finished singing. He’s sung along with every single song so far, and  _Under The Sea_ is no exception. Steve thinks it’s adorable, even if his singing is fucking terrible when he’s not shifted. “I met one called Sebastian though. Rude motherfucker.”

The make it through a solid fifteen minutes of Disney before Clint finishes his smoke and has another burning question to ask.

“Hey, you got a tail like Ariel?”

“Only in deep water.” Bucky explains, after swallowing the gulp of beer he’s been absently holding in his mouth for a frankly gross amount of time. “It’s gotta be an open body like the ocean, doesn’t happen in a pool. I can’t choose to do it.”

“His legs kinda fuse together.” Steve pipes up, stealing Bucky’s beer bottle while he’s distracted. Bucky headbutts him backwards where he’s lying half on top of his boyfriend on the couch, but doesn’t protest that much. “Sorta looks like a tail.”

“That’s so cool.” Clint shakes his head and looks back at the TV with a pout, muttering to himself after a few minutes “I want a tail.”

Bucky turns his face into Steve’s chest to smother his giggle. He really loves his dumb friends sometimes. 


	14. Log Flume

“Wooah!”

Bucky doesn’t realise he’s shifted (he’s wearing a plastic rain slicker and compromising his _style_ and everything to slip under the radar on that stupid log flume ride and there are _pictures_ lord) until a little boy stops dead in his tracks and points at him with his mouth open. 

One look at Steve’s face confirms it. Shit. 

“Why are you blue?” The little boy asks, still gaping as he grabs Bucky’s arm to look at his skin unceremoniously. He can’t be older than three, has absolutely no sense of boundaries as he prods Bucky’s scales curiously. 

“I. Uh.” He’s not really sure what to say. Steve is about to step in, gently pry the child away and make a quick exit before they get any more attention, when an extremely harried woman with a baby strapped to her chest gets the kid’s attention. 

“Joey! Leave the man alone and come here.” She raises her voice when the kid clearly has no intention of moving. “Right now, Joseph. I’m counting to three.”

“Bye!” The little boy lets Bucky go and waves before running after his mom as fast as he can, curly head disappearing into the crowd. Bucky watches him go for a moment and then turns to Steve, shaking his head. 

“I told you. Next year, Disneyworld.”


	15. Local Pond

“Hi.” Bucky holds out his hand politely, smiling and trying to pretend he’s not as nervous as he is. “It’s really nice to meet you Mrs-”

His introduction is cut off when Sarah pulls him into a hug, going up on her tiptoes to put her arms around him. Bucky stands there stunned for a moment, because the best he’d hoped for was polite tolerance. He’s seldom heard of anyone’s parents _approving_ of a relationship between a shifter and a human, let alone being _happy_ about it. 

“It’s lovely to meet you, Bucky. _Finally_.” She pulls back, shooting Steve a pointed look at the last word. “You’re a lot more handsome in person than you are in the pictures I _rarely_ get.”

“I send you pictures all the time, Ma.” Steve rolls his eyes, but Bucky can tell he’s pleased by her reaction too. He’s not quite sure what to do with himself, still standing still and sort of shocked by the fact she doesn’t seem to be hostile? Has Steve even  _told_ her what he is?

“Well if you’d let me friend you on Facebook, Steven, I wouldn’t have to ask.” Sarah sniffs, taking Bucky’s hand in her tiny one and pulling him into the house. “Now, I know you don’t eat fish, but I don’t know what you like. No thanks to my useless son. So I got a few bits in for sandwiches and things.”

“I told you not to worry about food, Ma.” Steve follows them in, sounding long-suffering but shooting Bucky a smile when he looks back over his shoulder. There’s no saying no to Sarah, apparently, which isn’t just like her son at _all_. 

“I had a little look on the google and I didn’t find anything you people are allergic to, so I hope it’s okay.” Sarah carries on, totally ignoring Steve as she plants Bucky in a chair at the kitchen table. “And if you’ve survived his cooking for this long then I think you’ll be fine.”

“Yeah.” Bucky tries not to grin all over his face, ducking his head to hide the way his eyes might just be watering. Just a little bit. “I think I will.”


	16. Whalesong

“Hi.” 

“Are you?” Bucky squints at Steve and the dreamy, lazy tone in his voice. He seems totally blissed out, slumped boneless on the couch, and he looks like he’s just smoked a bigger bowl than the one he and Sam managed last fourth of July. 

What the fuck even happened while Bucky was taking a bath? He was only gone for half an hour max. 

“Nah.” Steve drawls, rolling his head over the back of the couch to give Bucky a slow, beatific smile. “You were singing.”

Oh. 

“Oops.” Bucky pulls a face and tries not to laugh when it makes Steve giggle. He sings to himself all the time and frequently forgets that it has the side effect of essentially hypnotising listeners when he’s shifted. “Sorry, babe.”

“Nah, it’s great. I feel greeaat.” He reaches up and takes Bucky’s hand, tugging on it loosely. “Cuddle me.”

“I’m gonna soundproof that bathroom.” Bucky shakes his head but flops down on the couch anyway, lets Steve crawl into his lap and snuggle up like a big cuddly teddy bear. It’ll take about an hour for the spell to wear off, and they’ve got nowhere to be but here.


	17. Twin Tank

_“She was such an asshole about Steve. I dunno what to fucking do.”_ Bucky groans, letting his head fall back against the arm of the couch. Becky pats his foot supportively, grabbing a new beer from the pack and passing it to her brother. 

 _“I know, she was such a douche when I was seeing Paul. She doesn’t even give a shit I’m dating a girl with Wanda, as long as she’s a shifter.”_ Becky takes a swig of her drink and shakes her head.  _“Is she even talking to you? Or is she trying to wait you out and get you to dump Steve?”_

 _“I don’t fucking know. I’m not talking to her, I don’t care if she’s not talking to me.”_ Bucky grumbles. He glances over at his boyfriend and frowns at the confused look on Steve’s face. Then suddenly realises they must have been talking in marine and the only thing he’s probably understood for the last half hour is his name. “Sorry, babe. I didn’t notice we switched.”

“S’okay, I like listening to you talk.” Steve leans over the arm of the couch and kisses him, upside down. “Your accent’s cute.”

Bucky blushes and Becky groans, covering her eyes dramatically and nearly falling off the couch in the process. 

“You two are disgusting. Stop it. Stop being cute, I hate it.”

Bucky gives her the finger and drags Steve down for another kiss, just because he can. 


	18. Ice Bath

Steve’s been holding Bucky for at least thirty minutes, snuggled up together on the couch, before he finds out what’s wrong. His boyfriend had been quiet when he got home, curled in on himself and watching reruns of Friends blankly. Steve had known immediately there was something wrong, but also knew there was no point pushing Bucky to talk unless he wanted to. 

So he made dinner, put it in front of Bucky and watched him pick at it, before giving up and pulling him into his arms. Bucky went willingly, crawling into Steve’s lap without protest and burying his face in his neck. He swipes at his eyes furiously when he starts to cry, determined not to shift for some reason. He can’t handle that right now. 

“My dad called.” He scrubs the sleeve of Steve’s sweater, the red university boxing one he always steals, over his face as he tries to stop sniffling. “H-He was really mad. About you.”

“Aw, Buck.” Steve sighs sadly, bushing some unruly hair out of his boyfriend’s face. He knows he’s a source of conflict between Bucky and his parents, but it’s somehow always unexpected when it’s shoved in his face as raw as this.

“He yelled. A lot. And I yelled at him too.” He swallows hard, losing the battle to control himself as he wells up again. His skin starts tinge silver from the salt water, not fully shifting one way or the other. Limbo. “And he… He told me not to come home until I was gonna be sensible. He doesn’t wanna see me again until I’m not dating a breather. My parents don’t wanna speak to me anymore.”

“Oh, baby. I’m so sorry.” Steve pulls him close again as Bucky clenches his jaw, practically shaking with how tense he’s holding himself to try not to cry. It’s so horrible to see him like this and be totally powerless. Steve knows he’s the source of the conflict but he knows Bucky doesn’t want him to leave either. Limbo. “What can I do?”

“Just stay here.” Bucky curls his fingers into Steve’s shirt and grounds himself in his solid bulk. Something to touch, to hold. “Please?”

“Of course.” Steve presses his lips to Bucky’s hair, feeling the texture of his skin shift under his thumb and knowing he’s crying again. Not that he says a word, because Bucky just needs him to hold him right now. “I’m not going anywhere.”


	19. Clam Pot

“So… I was reading this article.”

Bucky puts down his GameBoy when he hears the tone of Clint’s voice, because he’s definitely not sober enough for his friend being _curious_. Steve is in the kitchen making enchiladas, Sam and Nat are giggling in the bedroom, and there’s nobody around to save him from Clint ‘I read something on the internet’ Barton.

“I dunno if this is another thing that’s like, rude to ask you.” Clint blows out his lungful of smoke and passes Bucky the joint. “I don’t wanna make this Pantsgate 2016 all over again, y’know?”

“I’m entering this discussion with the knowledge that you’re not an asshole.” Bucky nods, very seriously, before taking a smoke. He feels like he’s gonna need it. 

“So… Can you get knocked up?” Clint sits up slightly, slumping around to look at Bucky on the other end of the couch with his most interested expression. “’Cause I was reading about merpeople and apparently guys can get pregnant too?”

“Yeah, I can get knocked up.” Bucky shrugs, slightly relieved it’s not some weird piece of propaganda Clint’s come across. Basic biology isn’t that hard to rattle off facts about when he knows the person asking is on the level. “Only when I’m shifted, and then I wouldn’t be able to shift back until the thing was born. That’s why most of us don’t have babies that way, it’s not exactly convenient.”

“So… Do you and Steve fuck when you’re shifted, then? Like do condoms work, or…?” Clint trails off and shakes his head, catching himself. “Wait. I think that’s the line, right?”

“You’re a good man, Charlie Brown.” Bucky snorts, shoving his socked foot into Clint’s face and making him shriek indignantly. It’s weird, being out about his species with his friends like this, but it’s kind of really nice sometimes. It’s getting better, anyway.


	20. Fish School

Steve often loses track of Bucky at the aquarium (especially when there’s drama going down in the shark tank, which is frequent because apparently sharks can be salty as fuck), but never to a person before. So he’s not expecting it when Bucky lets out a squeal of surprise and drops his hand, running over to throw his arms around some guy in a uniform polo shirt standing by the tanks. 

“Oh my god, Steve.” Bucky looks over his shoulder once he’s finished hugging the life out of the guy, remembering his boyfriend is there and waving him over excitedly. “This is T’Challa, we went to marine Saturday school together.”

“Hey, nice to meet you.” T’Challa smiles and holds his hand out for Steve to shake, friendly and warm. “You must be the boyfriend, I’ve seen all the gross pictures of you two on Facebook.”

“They’re not gross, you asshole. It’s _love_.” Bucky punches him in the shoulder and T’Challa laughs, clearly used to casual violence from him. “What the fuck, you work here now?”

“Yeah, I just started as the new shark handler.” He points to his name tag with a grin, proud of himself. “You should’ve applied, man. You actually spoke marine at home, I had to bullshit my way through the application pretending to be fluent.”

“Eh, I don’t speak it much these days.” Bucky waves it off, because the thing with his parents is still a sore spot he doesn’t dare to look at, let alone touch. “I’m surprised you’ve even got this many sharks left after last week’s _nonsense_.”

“Oh dude, I _know_. Betsy wouldn’t even come out for chum until Friday, you dunno the half of it…”

Steve excuses himself quietly to go and grab a cup of coffee, because yep. This is a whole new level of aquarium gossip, and it’s gonna take a while. 


	21. Waterfall

“Your sister’s dating that lovely girl-”

“Mom, Steve is just as nice as Wanda. They’re _friends_ , for fuck’s sake.” Bucky lifts his head from where he’s been resting it against the cold metal of the fridge, glancing at the door to make sure Steve hasn’t come home yet. 

He knows it bothers his boyfriend that he’s a point of conflict between Bucky and his family, and he’s been trying to keep the blow-up fights with his mom as quiet and hidden as possible. He loves Steve and he doesn’t want to see him hurt, and it’s getting to the point where he feels like he’s going to have to choose between his boyfriend and his family. 

And honestly? Steve is winning hands-down right now.

“Don’t you use that language with me.” His mother chides, and Bucky breathes out and tries to stay level-headed. His parents aren’t going to change, they’re bigoted and old and stuck in their ways. He needs to work around them, much as it pains him, if they’re going to maintain any kind of relationship. 

“Look, Steve’s trying really hard.” He tries to be as firm as possible, stop his mother from cutting him off. “He’s learning our language, he’s working on his swimming. He’s even taking classes on mer culture.”

“He’s never going to be-”

“No, he’s never gonna be one of us. But I _like_ him not being one of us, Mom. I like the fact he doesn’t want to force me to have his babies. I like that he doesn’t get all weird around the tides like I do or-”

“You like that he’s never going to understand you?”

“Yes!” Bucky smacks his hand against the fridge in frustration. “We’ve built something that we understand just fine, I don’t need him to know about some ritual to Poseidon you observe once a fucking year! That’s understanding _you_ , not me. I never gave a shit about any of that!” 

“Bucky!”

“You chose to bring us up on land, you and Dad. You can’t _now_ turn around and be mad that we don’t act like we grew up in Atlantis.” He hears Steve’s huge keyring (a big blinged-out mermaid keychain,  _thanks Clint_ ) jingling outside and shakes his head, accepting that he’s running his head against a brick wall. “I gotta go.”

“Are you coming home for the Lunar-”

“Ask Dad. He told me to stay away.” Bucky can’t help the final jab, because he’s just sick of it. “If I can’t come with Steve, I’m not coming.”

He hangs up and has just enough time to school his expression before Steve walks in, smiling widely when he sees Bucky because he has no idea he’s just been the subject of a fight. Again.

“Hey babe.” He walks over and leans down to kiss his boyfriend, and Bucky’s stomach settles a little. “Good day?”

“It was okay.” It’s not even a lie, because it _is_ okay now Steve’s home. Not perfect, but better. As good as he wants it to be. 


	22. Sushi

“Would you like to live in a tiny tank? Wanna walk in circles all day and go crazy because there’s nowhere else for you to go and nothing to stimulate your brain? Why the fuck d’you think they end up with a short memory?! It’s so they don’t eat themselves out of boredom!”

“Shit, babe. Cool down, it was just a question.” Steve holds his hands up, trying not to pull the _wtf just happened yikes_ expression that dearly wants to break out across his face. He hadn’t even suggested _getting_ a pet fish, just asked if that was something merpeople did. 

Bucky realises that, because he tosses his hair over his shoulder and forcibly swallows his temper before leaning over the back of the couch and kissing Steve apologetically. 

“Sorry.” He sighs, slightly embarrassed by his outburst. “I have a lot of feelings.”

“I know, baby.” Steve turns to hide his smile, because Bucky being passionate about weird things is a) one of his favourite things and b) one of his favourite things to mess with. “That’s why I don’t ask you about sushi.”

The _disgust_ in Bucky’s voice is beautiful when he practically shrieks in response. 

“Do you _want_ me to be sick on you, Rogers?! Do you?!”


	23. Seaweed

“It’s an ideological thing.” Bucky explains, not for the first time and most likely not for the last. Clint has the shifter Wikipedia page open on his tablet, and he’s been reading out different fact for confirmation or denial for the past twenty minutes. 

Bucky’s going to give him up to half an hour, then he’s cutting the topic off. Luckily the questions about sex have been few and far between, this time. 

“Like, if you can talk to it then you probably shouldn’t eat it. You know they’ve got personalities and thoughts and feelings, so it’s kinda fucked up to see them as food after that. You wouldn’t eat a person.”

Clint opens his mouth immediately and Steve takes this one. 

“Whether or not you’d theoretically eat a person is beside the point.”

Clint shuts his mouth again. Thanks Steve. 

“So, if you don’t eat fish then what do the guys who actually live in the sea eat? On those colonies and shit?”

“Plants.” Bucky shrugs. “We’re mostly vegetarian.”

“Huh.” Clint purses his lips thoughtfully. “But you eat burgers and shit.”

“I can’t talk to cows.”

“Huh.” He nods slowly, scrolling to the next factoid he wants to sort out. “Neat.”


	24. High Dive

“You’re an idiot.”

Steve’s hand feels freezing on Bucky’s forehead, and his boyfriend shivers and pushes him away weakly. He tries to burrow further into the nest he’s created on the couch, but Steve tugs the blankets down and exposes him again. 

“I thought you had the flu ‘til I looked it up.” He looks pissed, pushing the sweaty hair out of Bucky’s face in spite of the whine it causes. Dry touch feels like sandpaper at this point. “Why haven’t you been shifting?”

“Don’t wanna talk about it.” Bucky mumbles, curling in on himself because he doesn’t _want_ to be like this anymore. 

He’s never hated what he is, never hated himself for not being human, but the conflict with his family over living in human culture (and, most importantly, living with his human boyfriend) has sent him into something of a slow downward spiral. Culminating in him refusing to shift for nearly a month now, because all it does is remind him of what he’s _supposed_ to be. 

But he can’t tell Steve that, because the big idiot would probably do something stupid like try to talk to Bucky’s parents himself, and that’s a recipe for disaster. Bucky would die if his boyfriend had to be subjected to how bigoted his parents really are. 

“Fine, be an idiot. Lucky you’re my idiot.” Steve brushes a kiss lightly to Bucky’s forehead, having read about how dry touch would be intensified if he hadn’t shifted for a while, before scooping Bucky’s limp body into his arms and carrying him easily into the bathroom. 

“I don’t wanna.” Bucky shivers when he realises Steve’s prepared one of his quick-and-dirty emergency shift salt baths. “Steve...”

“You’re gonna get really sick if you don’t, babe.” Steve sets him down on the edge of the bath and starts carefully removing his layers of blankets to try and avoid rubbing his skin as much as possible. “You don’t have to tell me about it, but you do have to take care of yourself. That’s not a negotiation.” 

His tone is firm, and Bucky only sees how worried Steve is when he looks him in the eye. He thinks for a moment of being stubborn, refusing and pushing Steve away and giving his parents what they want. But then the look in Steve’s eyes makes him soften, let out a long breath and drop his head to Steve’s shoulder. 

He’s been an idiot, yeah. At least he’s Steve’s idiot.


	25. Tail Blanket

This isn’t as bad as the time they gang pitched together to get tickets to the _Little Mermaid_ musical for his last birthday. In fact, the blanket is kind of… nice. 

“Like, it’s lumpy as hell.” Clint pinches a lump in the knitted turquoise wool and shakes it to make a point. “But, uh. I figure I put my foot in my mouth a lot and ask you stupid shit about yourself. And you never get mad, y’know? Like, the whole tail shape thing is probably offensive or whatever, but-”

Clint’s awkward ramble is stopped in its tracks when Bucky throws his arms around his friend’s neck and squeezes him in a tight hug. It’s been a rough year since he came out openly about his species with his friends, mainly with his family rather than actually within the group, but Clint’s shameless questions have been one of the things keeping him grounded. It’s made him feel normal to be ribbed just like everyone else, not treated with delicacy but worked into the fabric of the group.

“That thing’s ugly as fuck.” Bucky squeezes Clint just a little harder, not that his friend minds. “I love it.”

“Good, ‘cause I ain’t knitting you shit ever again.” Clint squeezes Bucky back just as tight. “Maybe Steve some socks against your cold blooded feet.”

“You suck.” Bucky lies, and Clint knows it means _thank you_.


	26. A Little Water

“...I found the recipe online, but I dunno if it’ll actually be any good.” 

Steve looks over his shoulder with a grin, pleased to see Bucky back on his feet after a nasty case of shark flu. He picked it up from T’Challa at the aquarium, and he’s spent the last few days sleeping in the bathtub to stay shifted and shivering his way through what looked to Steve like the opposite of a fever. It had looked pretty concerning at some points, especially considering Steve knows nothing about mer illnesses, but Bucky seems to be over the worst. 

Standing in the kitchen doorway, a dripping towel wrapped around his neck, Bucky would disagree. He whines something grumpily in mer and stumbles across the kitchen, plastering himself to Steve’s back because he’s cuddly when he’s sick. He only opens his eyes when he gets a whiff of what’s in the pot on the stove, titling his head a little so he can blink blearily at his boyfriend. 

“S’that seaweed?”

“Seaweed and, uh, mushrooms. Most of the recipes use fish stock, but I figured that was a terrible idea with you.” He presses a kiss to Bucky’s hair, clumsy at the angle. “You don’t have to eat it, I just figured it might make you feel better.”

For a minute, it really does.

“My Mom used to make it when we were kids. One time we both had flu and I don’t think we ate anything else for like...” He trails off into silence. It’s been so long since he spoke to his family, since they had a happy memory together, and it’s like pressing on a fresh bruise. 

“Buck?” Steve prompts when the silence stretches, and Bucky presses his forehead into his shoulder, worn out all over again. 

“It’s awesome, babe. Thanks.” He realises his towel is soaking through Steve’s shirt, but his boyfriend doesn’t seem to mind. What did Bucky ever do to deserve him? “M’sorry I got you all wet.”

“Kinda used to it, sweetheart.” Steve feels Bucky huff a weak laugh against his shoulder and smiles to himself. Couldn’t be in this relationship if he was scared of a little water. 


	27. Beach Wedding

Steve comes to slowly, swimming up from the gentle depths of sleep to the feel of his boyfriend’s lips on his skin. It’s been a long, wonderful, exhausting few days and he doesn’t think he’s ever been more relaxed. Bucky nuzzles into his temple and presses another lazy kiss to his hair, half on his ear and half spitty and gross. It makes Steve smile into Bucky’s stubbly throat and snuffle out a sigh of contentment. 

“Babe.” Bucky strokes his fingertips lightly down Steve’s bare back, over his shoulders as the pale morning light filters in through the drapes of their bed and breakfast room. They’re in a sweet little vintage place by the sea for a whole week, it’s perfect. “Water’s awesome this time of day, we should go to the beach.”

“Shhh.” Steve clumsily gropes up to try and put his hand over Bucky’s mouth, even though the only thing he achieves is making him giggle. “S’vacation. Sleeping time.”

“Maybe if I wake you up real nice you’ll come swim with me.” Bucky snakes his hand into Steve’s boxers, grinning with his eyes closed at the sleepy little groan it inspires and suddenly overwhelmed with the knowledge that this is his man. _His_. “You’re awesome. Love you, babe.”

“Love you too, Mr Rogers.” Steve slips his arm around Bucky’s back and tugs him closer, extremely satisfied with the affectionate sigh. The ceremony three days ago, ankle deep in the sea with their closest friends, had been the happiest day of his life and it feels like the magic hasn’t stopped since.

“Can’t believe you talked me into being called that. Voluntarily.” Bucky lets Steve pull him on top of him, eyes still closed because the twilight between waking and sleep is soft and perfect right now. “Come swim and I won’t think you’re the worst.”

“Tough choice, waking up and moving or sleep and being the worst...” Steve screws up his face and pretends to think about it hard, unable to stay serious when Bucky nips his jaw playfully. 

Best guy. Best honeymoon. Best time of his life. 


	28. Hot Cider

“You literally spend your life in the freezing ocean. You’re designed for it. You can’t seriously hate the cold that much.”

The reindeer print hot water bottle is shoved into his hands without pause anyway. Steve fights the urge to laugh at Bucky’s most intense glare directed at him from above what looks like three scarves covering everything up to the bridge of his nose.

“If you’re forcing me to go freeze my nuts off in the street then you’d better fill that up.” The ‘can’t do it with gloves on’ is muttered testily and Steve has to smother a snort as he turns around to the sink.

“I’m not forcing you to do anything, you don’t have to come look at the beautiful lights like a person who doesn’t hate Christmas.” He might ham it up a little bit - Bucky’s a grumpy cat about the cold but he certainly doesn’t hate anything that gives him the opportunity to unironically wear tinsel - but it gets him nothing but a grouchy noise in response. “Sam’s bringing hot cider and a flask.”

“I love Sam.” Bucky takes the hot water bottle when Steve’s finally faffed about with the stopper and shoves it under his coat. He really, really hates the cold. “I don’t get the point of Christmas, anyway. Like, it’s not religious but it’s also not secular? And Santa isn’t Jesus’ dad? Breathers are so weird.”

“You weren’t complaining when the red cups came back at Starbucks.”

“They fit my aesthetic.” Bucky rolls his eyes like that’s obvious and puts his hands in his pockets. He’s wearing so many layers he’s kind of got the barrel body look of a little kid wrapped up against the cold. Steve sort of loves him so much he’s breathing funny all of a sudden. “Alright, I’m ready. Drag me into the freezing pits of hell to look at twinkly lights.”

“You really don’t have to come.” Steve points out, totally unsurprised when Bucky shakes his head and takes Steve’s hand with one of the woollen paws his numerous gloves have left him with.

“'Tis the season.” He sighs, sounding as put upon as he can, but holds Steve’s hand all the way to the park regardless.

The look on Steve’s face when the display lights up is definitely worth the cold.


	29. Shit's Creek

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Politics yo. Nothing heavy.

The anti-inauguration party at Sam’s has become pretty raucous by noon, considering the free-flowing booze and the fact literally everyone in their group of friends is about to lose a whack of rights now the flaming hot Cheeto’s in office. 

“These assholes wanna make bars get _animal licenses_ to have shifters on the premises! Like we’re fucking pets!” Bucky downs his tequila and grabs Clint’s for good measure - although his friend is pretty much too baked to care. 

“Maybe you can get like a service dog vest and get in. Lucky’s might fit you.” Clint picks up his suddenly empty shot glass and squints at it in confusion, joint smouldering in his other hand.

“You breathers are too fucking much.” Bucky shakes his head until his vision spins and leans over the back of his chair to look at Steve upside down. He and Sam have been sullenly, silently drinking beer as they get closer they get to zero hour, and they’re still occupying the couch like the doom merchants they are. “Hey, hey Stevie. You wanna go live in the ocean?”

“I can’t breathe underwater.” Steve grumbles, with the morose tone he gets when he’s being a sad drunk. “Probably still be better off in the long term.”

“You’re an idiot.” Bucky snorts affectionately as he sits upright, slithering off his chair to wobble over and plant himself in his boyfriend’s lap. “Good thing you’re cute.”

“Let’s all go live in the ocean.” Sam pipes up from the other side of the couch, clearly a couple of beers deeper than Steve since he’s reached the Crazy Schemes point of intoxication and holds his bottle aloft like a brand new Statue of Liberty. “Four years in the sea!”

“Four years in the sea!” Clint joins in with the toast… but throws his shot glass across the room in his enthusiasm. 

Steve buries his face in Bucky’s neck and groans as the glass shatters. It feels pretty appropriate. 


	30. Cold Sweat

_“Who do we need to show us the way?”_

“The map!”

_“That’s right! Say ‘map’.”_

“Map!”

_“Say ‘map’!”_

“Map! Map!”

“That’s starting to get annoying.” Steve mutters quietly to himself as Bucky and Talise join in with yet another episode of Dora the Explorer: Underwater. Considering his little cousin doesn’t speak much English yet, finding the Merspeak version online had been a godsend... two hours ago.

“Live with it, pal. There’s not a lotta kids stuff she can understand up here, let alone bilingual shit.” Bucky shrugs, not bothering to watch his words because it’s not like Talise is following. “It’s only for a couple days.”

“Is it, though?” Far from wanting to get rid of the kid - although he’s not sure how they’re going to handle having a five year old running around their tiny apartment much longer - Steve is worried about what the effect on her is likely to be if the time stretches on without an end in sight. 

Talise had been visiting some of Bucky’s extended family for the summer, came up from Atlantis with an older sibling who’d been supposed to come back and collect her at the end of the break... until the travel ban which had left the kid stranded in New York, too small to head home alone and no visas being granted for anyone to come and get her. Any shifters who wanted to stay dirtside were too afraid of not getting back home to step up, and so Bucky volunteered to spend his break babysitting the kid until a solution was found. 

It’s strange to look at them together, Steve thinks, because they look so alike and so different. Talise has the blue eyes and sharp cheekbones so characteristic of Bucky’s family... except her pupils are cat-eye slits and her eyes glow silver in the dark. She’s always lived underwater, so her skin keeps a shiny grey tint even on land, and she still finds the gravity up here fascinating enough to keep jumping off things and giving Steve a heart attack. 

It’s nice to have her around the place really, Bucky’s apparently great with kids and it makes Steve fall in love with him a little bit more every day, but it can’t last forever. 

“Becky’s got a friend who’s moving down to Atlantis to study, she should be able to chaperone Tally back at the end of break.” The kid looks over curiously - the light catching the green-purple oil tint in her black hair - and Bucky explains something in mer until she goes back to Dora, satisfied.

“And what if she decides not to go?” Steve knows they don’t have any answers, but not being able to do anything eats him up. Bucky shakes his head tiredly, out of platitudes. “I’ll do some research. There’s gotta be some kinda loophole for kids, right?”

They both know there isn’t, they’ve both seen the news, but trying and failing is better than not trying at all. 

“Thanks, babe.” Bucky pulls a smile from somewhere and Steve leans over to kiss him. 

Talise makes a gagging sound and they break apart, Bucky poking her and no doubt talking smack until she giggles.

Looks like they have a live-in cockblock for a while. As Steve watches the pair of them engage in a tickle fight which sends Bucky rolling off the couch and Tally leaping after him, he figures he can live with that. 


	31. Bubbles

“What the fucking shit is-”

“It’s called... Bubble Guppies?” Steve cringes at the name and holds his hands up as Tally laughs at the colourful classroom scene onscreen. He’s making her a snack in the kitchen and he’s got no idea how to handle seaweed as it is. “I dunno man, she was really excited when she saw it on Netflix.”

The show is in English, so Bucky cocks his head curiously and dumps his bag before going over to talk to his little cousin. A few days of her staying have turned into two weeks with the visa ban bullshit, and they’ve had to figure out a schedule with friends and work hours to watch her while the travel issues remain unsorted. 

The pair talk back and forth in mer for a minute or so while Steve hopes he hasn’t fucked up somehow (he’s never watched Talise alone before and he was already nervous as hell) before Bucky scrubs his hand across the kid’s head and walks back over to the kitchen. 

“It’s okay to let her watch it, right?” Steve asks cautiously, relieved when Bucky takes over the seaweed prep with experienced hands. 

“Yeah, ‘course. She doesn’t really understand it, she just misses the ocean.” He flips the pan and rubs a hand across his eyes with a low sigh, looking suddenly older than his years. “I’ll take her to the beach this weekend. We can still go in if it’s less than a hundred feet out with the new regs. Won’t be deep enough for her to get her tail back, but it’s better than nothing.”

Steve scowls at the defeated tone in his boyfriend’s voice.

“This is such-”

“Fucking shit!” Tally exclaims gleefully at something on the screen, which makes both of them jump and look at each other - torn between being scandalised and bursting out laughing. 

“That’s your fucking fault.”

“Excuse me?!” Steve gapes, aghast. “Who has the potty mouth here?”

“It’d be better if I could get laid once in a while.” Bucky laments, taking the pan off the heat and leaning his head back on Steve’s shoulder dramatically. “Maybe we had kids too young, darling. I’m all dried up.”

Steve snorts and spins Bucky around to kiss the hell out of him, ignoring Tally’s loud, grossed out protests from the living room when she finally notices. The chirpy theme tune of Bubble Guppies sounds again as the show rolls over on Netflix, and Steve and Bucky finally tear themselves apart to attend to their surrogate dad duties. 

Who knows how long they’re going to have their little friend hanging around for, but it’s starting to feel like they can handle it. At least if they don’t die from sexual frustration in the meantime, that is. 


	32. Fountain

"What d'you mean, we can't?" Bucky blinks, taken aback when the guy straight-up denies them entry to the pool.

"Company policy." The guy in the yellow polo shirt glances pointedly at Tally, the reception area's fluorescent lighting catching the slight shimmer of her skin. Even with her eyes hidden behind garish pink sunglasses, that evidence of her species is impossible to hide.

"It wasn't policy last week." Nobody had even been checking admissions last week, or the week before that. Nobody really cared until words like 'unamerican' and 'unpredictable' and 'dangerous' started being thrown around on the news.

Bucky's heart sinks as he notices the new sign by the door: a ridiculous cartoon of a fish-person with a big red cross slapped over it. He knew shit was going down, restrictions on shifters seem to get more ludicrous by the day across all the species, but he hadn't expected this to happen so fast.

Tally notices the sign and shrinks into his side as Steve carries on arguing with the admissions guy. Fuck.

"New policy."

"Why?"

"Safety reasons."

"They can breathe underwater!"

" _Public_ safety reasons, sir." The guy doesn't exactly sneer, but his tone is pointed enough that Bucky has to grab Steve's arm to remind him that punching people is illegal. "If you don't stop being hostile and leave I'll have to call the police."

"Since when is asking questions hostile?" The illegality of punching people doesn't seem to matter to Steve, as he steps closer to the admissions booth. "This is discriminatory bullshit, you can't—"

"He can, Steve." Bucky takes his hand and tugs him away from the booth, shepherding a nervous Tally in front of him. "Come on, we don't need this shit."

The heavy door swinging shut behind them sounds like defeat, leaving them standing on the steps with their swimming gear – all ready but nowhere to go. They were banned from the sea entirely last month, and it seems like soon they'll only be able to shift in their own bathtubs.

"Fucking shit." Tally mutters dejectedly in her heavily-accented English after a moment of stunned silence. Bucky can't help but agree.

"We can go to the one across town." Steve suggests, trying to salvage the situation. His righteous fury has burned out now he's faced with Bucky and Tally's resigned sadness. "It's a subway ride, but…"

"Forget it. They'll only kick us out there too." Bucky shakes his head, not meeting his boyfriend's eyes. "Let's just go home."

He starts walking in the direction of the apartment, Steve trailing along behind with Tally clinging to his hand, before suddenly stopping dead and turning back to them. For some reason, he doesn't look defeated anymore.

Steve braces himself as soon as he sees Bucky's face. He's seen that look a million times, usually after a few beers, and he can guarantee that some fuckery is about to occur.

"Let's go to the park."

 

The video goes viral, of course.

Bucky and Tally in the fountain, fully shifted. She splashes around gleefully, chirping away in marine and having the time of her life as Bucky grins, turning his sharp teeth towards anybody who looks like they might have something to say. Steve sits on the edge with his feet in the water, laughing and cringing away every time one of them splashes him – accidentally or, if it's Bucky, on purpose.

A couple of teenagers approach the fountain, both carrying towels and clearly having been turned away from the pool too. They speak shyly to Bucky for a minute before setting down their stuff and jumping into the fountain, emerging from the spray with grey skin and flashing silver eyes. The video ends a couple of minutes later, as an elderly man rolls up his sleeves and dips his arm in the water - just enough to make him shift - smiling as Tally comes over to say hello in his own language.

"I thought Steve was gonna punch the TV when it showed up on Fox, some segment about how we're taking over public spaces." Bucky laughs, passing Clint the joint where they're hanging out of the window to smoke because Tally's napping inside. "Worth it."

"They're gonna ban you from the park next." Clint snorts, voice tight as he holds the smoke in. There's a note of concern under the humour, but Bucky just shrugs a smile. It was a small victory, but they still won.

"We'll find a way."


	33. Boiling Point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be a little lighter in the part after this for a break...

"If you need to leave-"

"I'm not going anywhere." Bucky's jaw is set, even though he's staring at the ceiling like he'll crack if he stops concentrating on his composure for even a second. They're lying next to each other in bed, whispering because Tally is asleep across the apartment, and Steve's glad he decided to broach the subject like this - there's no chance of it escalating if they're trying to be quiet.

Yesterday, Bucky's academic supervisor called him into her office and suggested he finish the rest of the semester online. She had a few bullshit reasons ready to throw out - and yes, he has missed some classes since Tally unexpectedly started staying with them, but his GPA is good and he's kept up with all his assignments - but when he called her on it she came clean: the college was no longer sure they could keep shifters safe on campus. Especially not visible ones, like Bucky, who's viral appearance in the fountain video has made him more readily-identifiable as shifter than he's ever been in his life. 

A were-guy got beaten up on campus the week before, and nobody claimed to see anything despite it being the middle of the day. If this is New York, Bucky dreads to think what things are like inland. 

So does Steve, clearly, because he's been circling this topic for days and now, finally, they're actually having the conversation. It makes the whole nightmare seem too real, as if it wasn't already.

"I don't know how long it's gonna be safe for..." Steve rolls over and Bucky finally glances at him, concealing a flinch at the naked fear behind his boyfriend's eyes. "I don't know if I can keep you safe."

"This is my home, Steve. I'm not leaving." He huffs out a sigh, steeling himself, before rolling over so they're face to face, at last. "But we've gotta get Tally out before things get worse, she can't hide."

"I know." Steve grimaces, shifting awkwardly as he weighs up whether to make his suggestion or not. It's risky, but it might be their only shot. "I know they've closed the border, but..."

"But you love breaking the law?" A smile creeps over Bucky's face as Steve makes that guilty expression he's so fond of, the one that tries - and fails - to convince the world he's not a law-breaking little shit who can't keep his mouth shut. "You know I love danger, lay it on me."

"I was thinking, y'know that little cove we found last summer..."

 

"This is a shitty plan."

"Thanks for your contribution." Bucky doesn't let up his death grip on Steve's hand even as he snarks at Clint. He'd never admit it, but he's nervous. Clint and Sam exchange a glance in the front seats, having already dropped Nat at the highway turn off to act as lookout, but Bucky pretends he doesn't see the scepticism on their faces. "It'll be fine."

"They have alarms. You know that, right?" Sam sounds equally worried, though he threw himself down this rabbit hole with them without a second thought. All their friends are ready to get themselves in trouble in order to do the right thing, and Bucky's never appreciated it so much. "You get more than-"

"We go as fast as we can. We've got a couple minutes before they get here after the alarm trips. My uncle's waiting on the other side, as soon as she can see him I'll head back to the surface and take the fine. They'll think I was the only one down there." He recites, having gone over the plan in English and mer more times than he cares to count. 

The sun is already staining the sky grey outside, rising earlier than they'd expected. Talise is tucked under Steve's arm in the middle of the back seat, squished between them and clinging tightly to her waterproof rucksack. Every so often she'll practice saying 'I am a citizen of Atlantis' to herself in English, something they taught her in case something goes badly wrong this morning. Bucky will gladly never hear her say it again in his life. He never expected to live in a fucking dystopia.

"What if they deport you?" Clint still isn't convinced, and his caution is a little surprising since he's usually the first to get himself into hot water (pun intended). Maybe he really does care about his dumb smoking buddy. 

"My parents are from Atlantis, I'm not a citizen. They can't." Bucky doesn't sound confident, despite his best efforts. Tally pats him on the arm comfortingly and he forces a smile, game face firmly on.

The cove is isolated enough that nobody should see them go into the water, rocky ground littered with pebbles and unlikely to attract a beach crowd. Steve carries Tally down to the water to save her bare feet, sets her down just shy of the water where Bucky is hurriedly stripping off his clothes. He's hoping they'll shift to tails fast, because speed is going to be everything as soon as they get in the water. He slips his underwater earpiece in and taps to answer as soon as Steve dials it from his cell, giving them a connection while he dives. Sam and Clint hang back, watching out for any unwanted company, as Steve and Bucky embrace and exchange quiet  _I love you_ _s_ , each trying to look less scared than he is. 

"Ready?" Bucky leads Talise into the water, waiting for them both to shift and taking one last look back at the land before they dive. "Okay, just like we talked about. Go."

They disappear into the water just as a border control truck screeches around the corner and Nat's warning beeps through on their phones. That's when things start to go wrong.


	34. Teardrops

Steve practices his smile a few times before he turns on Skype, worn out after a long day of trying to wrangle a legal system nobody in power wants to question. He doesn't want Bucky to worry.

The call connects after what feels like forever, and his heart leaps into his throat when the camera finally works and a murky picture of his boyfriend comes into view.

"Hi babe," he finds he doesn't have to force the smile after all, even if it's sadder than he wanted it to be.

After trying to get Tally home turned into a fucking disaster - after a group of border patrol agents decided to shoot into the water despite the people they were arresting screaming that there was a _fucking kid_ down there - it quickly became apparent that it wasn't safe for Bucky to return to the surface.

Steve spent hours in a cell, going out of his mind with worry because he didn't know if either of them had been hit, if Bucky was even alive, before Nat bailed him out. The news that Bucky made it across the border to Atlantis made his knees weak with relief, but it was the realisation that it was a one way trip that left Steve choking back tears on the drive home to his suddenly empty apartment.

 _How's it going?_ Bucky types into the chat box, dim light glinting off his skin and sharp teeth when he smiles.

He can't speak English underwater - due to the whole lack of air thing - and Steve's Mer is shitty, so text is the only way to go. There's also not a lot of artificial light in Atlantis (Steve never realised that Bucky could see in the dark and his penchant for sunglasses wasn't just hipster douchery, but then he never asked), so it's difficult to see his boyfriend too.

It's hard.

"It's okay. Tiring. Work's work. They've passed some new laws and, surprise surprise, weres have got curfews now," he scrubs a hand over his face, unable to hide the frustration. "I never knew Thor turned into a golden retriever on the weekends, did you?"

 _Game recognise game_ , Bucky throws up a peace sign and Steve laughs, chest aching. _I miss you._

"You too," he sighs, touching two fingers to Bucky's on the screen when his boyfriend does the same. The apartment is too quiet without him, and their friends are all legitimately worried about Steve since Bucky left.

Sure, he might have stopped shaving and maybe spends more time protesting about anti-shifter legislation than anything else, but he can't just do _nothing_.

He's going to do whatever it takes to get Bucky back, even if that means tearing down the system with his bare hands.

 _Tally misses Uncle Steve,_ Bucky informs him, and this time Steve's smile is a little less haggard and a little more genuine. _I think my aunt and uncle are gonna buy us a fucking house for bringing her home when this shit blows over._

"They'd better," he grumbles, and hearing Bucky's strange, soft Mer laugh through his headphones settles the churning in his stomach which never really goes away. "I'm glad she's home."

_Wish I was._

"Me too, babe," Steve says quietly, reaching out again and touching nothing but the cold, plastic picture of his broken heart. "Me too."


End file.
